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Wireless Federation » archive for 'Maxis'

MNP launches across Malaysia

  • October 15th, 2008
  • 12:51 pm

Mobile Number Portability launches in Malaysia officially, following the trials last month. The service during the trials were initially available only to the prepaid subscribers in the Klang Valley area, then the span grew to post paid as well. The operators who participated in the trials were Celcom, DiGi, Maxis and U-Mobile and were able to accept 100 requests per day with excess requests not fulfilled.
Operators will now be allowed to charge a maximum of MYR25 (USD7.16) for the service.

   

ZTE Corp wins $400 million GSM network project for Aircel (India)

  • October 13th, 2008
  • 5:47 am

ZTE Corp, Chinese telecom equipment maker, wins a $400 million GSM network infrastructure project in India. ZTE has won the contract for Malaysian mobile operator Maxis for it’s Indian subsidiary, Aircel, for GSM coverage expansion.

   

ASEAN plans to reduce roaming tariffs to half by next year

  • October 6th, 2008
  • 6:15 am

Mobile roaming traiffs of South East Asia anticipated to be halved by early next year. According to Energy, Water and Communications Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor, a reduction was necessary as charges were exceptionally high. “We plan to reduce roaming charges with Singapore first,” he said. Reduction in the roaming fees will trim down the burden on the tens of thousands of Malaysians who commute to Singapore daily. He further said, We do not want them to be paying exceptionally high roaming charges when their workplace (Singapore) is only a few kilometres (miles) away from their homes in (neighbouring) Johor.
Singaporean counterpart Lee Boon Yang had hailed the proposal. Maxis charges 1.50 ringgit (0.43 dollars) per minute for a local registered cell phone user when he uses his phone in Singapore and as high as 9.00 ringgit per minute in Cambodia. Maxis customers are charged about 30 sen per minute for local calls.

Malaysia’s mobile penetration to reach 96.8% in 2010 (Malaysia)

  • September 2nd, 2008
  • 1:31 pm

The remarkable growth in Malaysia’s mobile market over the last few years cannot hide the fact that the industry had been overcrowded. Behind the strong growth, there has been considerable activity going on with the restructuring of the companies involved. The outcome was that the number of operators in Malaysia was reduced from five to three. With 3G licences having been awarded in a two stage process, next generation services are starting to be rolled out. Coming into 2008, growth in total subscribers had levelled off somewhat, as the market appeared to pause. But 3G was providing a new spark and a new operator, U Mobile was set to enter the market. This report looks at the developments in the Malaysian mobile market and reviews the changes taking place.

Telekom Malaysia is the country’s telecommunications incumbent. In April 2003, it acquired number two GSM mobile operator Celcom.
TM International, has telecom investments, mainly mobile, in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Cambodia, with evolving plans to expand into other parts of Asia.

OPERATOR     SUBSCRIBERS
Maxis               10.5 million
Celcom             7.894 million
DiGi                 6.637 million

Notable highlights of the Malaysia mobile market profile include:

  • The wireless penetration level in Malaysia will continue to increase and will reach 96.8% in 2010. The number of subscribers in Malaysia will increase from our projected 25 million in 2008 to our forecasted 28.5 million in 2010.
  • The level of market concentration in Malaysia, as measured by the HHI index, will stay the same over the next several years. However, we expect that Celcom will be losing its market share to Maxis and DiGi.Com. It is forecasted that Celcom’s market share will drop from 30.4% to 28.2% while that of DiGi.Com will increase from 28.4% to 30% over the forecast period from 2008 to 2010.
  • The ARPU levels have stabilized in Malaysia. In 2010, Maxis will receive the highest ARPU of US$ 21.73 per month while DiGi.Com will receive the lowest ARPU in the country at US$18.83 per month.

   

Maxis denies plans to sell Aircel stake to AT&T (Malaysia)

  • July 1st, 2008
  • 2:38 pm

Malaysia’s Maxis Communications dismisssed reports it is planning to sell its 74% stake in India’s Aircel, a Reuters report said.

Earlier, the Economic Times of India said Maxis is looking to sell the stake to US giant AT&T.

The unlisted, Kuala Lumpur-based Maxis denied the report and reiterated its commitment to build Aircel’s mobile business in India, the world’s fastest-growing cellular market, the Reuters report said.

“This news item is based on speculation, having no basis whatsoever. We are not aware of any discussions with AT&T about this matter,” Maxis said in a statement.

“Maxis Communications and its partners remain committed to the accelerated growth and development of Aircel to be a successful Pan-Indian operator,” it said.

In May, Maxis said it would spend €2.5 billion (US$4 billion)-€3.1 billion (US$5 billion) in India by 2009/10 to expand its network. It has in the past denied newspaper reports that it planned to exit its Aircel unit.

Unlisted Aircel, which has 7,000 telecom towers, has nearly 11 million subscribers in India.

AT&T, which has applied for licences in India in partnership with the Mahindra Group, was reported last year to be eyeing a wireless acquisition in the fast-growing market.

It said earlier this year it would invest €635 million (US$1 billion) worldwide for expansion.

   
 

Maxis: targeting two million 3G subscribers (Malaysia)

  • April 10th, 2008
  • 1:47 pm

Malaysia’s Business Edge newspaper writes that Maxis Mobile is aiming to hit the target of two million 3G subscribers, having achieved the figure of 1.3 million by the end of March 2008. Maxis chief executive Sandip Das said: ‘As 3G services are increasingly being offered globally, we hope to see the prices of 3G handset devices falling. With that, we hope we will be able to cross the two million mark very shortly. Most of Malaysians buying new phones now are buying 3G-enabled phones, and that gives us a very big opportunity.

   

 

 

NTT to give up full stake in Sri Lanka Telecom to Maxis (Japan)

  • March 11th, 2008
  • 9:27 am

Japan’s NTT is to sell its entire stake in Sri Lanka Telecom to Malaysia’s Maxis Communications after a long legal battle.

The Reuters report quoted Sri Lanka Telecom head of investor relations Upali Mahamithawa as saying that “Maxis has agreed to buy the whole NTT holding,” soon after a court ruling that allowed a sale to proceed.

The 35.19 % stake would be worth about $214 million at current share prices, the report said.

The last condition is for transparency and prior public notice in the event of a management agreement, the report said.

NTT had planned to sell mobile network operator Maxis 25.3% of Sri Lanka Telecom early last year, but the deal was temporarily blocked by the country’s Supreme Court in June after an opposition member of parliament opposed it, the report.

This week, the court allowed NTT to proceed with a sale.

The government has a 49.5% stake in Sri Lanka Telecom. The rest is held by the public.

Analysts said the court ruling and NTT’s decision to sell the entire stake would boost the market.

   

Maxis denies plans to quit Aircel (India)

  • September 13th, 2007
  • 1:16 pm

Malaysian cellco Maxis Communications has denied reports carried by the Times of India newspaper claiming that it is planning to exit its Indian Aircel unit. ‘This report is speculative, having no basis whatsoever,’ a Maxis spokesperson said in a statement sent by email. ‘Maxis Communications is committed to the Indian telecommunications market as a long-term investor. Together with the Apollo Group, our Indian partner, Maxis is accelerating investments in network infrastructure to further develop Aircel as a strong Pan-Indian operator.’

   

 

 

Indonesia sets foreign investment limits

  • July 5th, 2007
  • 10:27 am

The Indonesian government has enacted regulations that cap foreign ownership in mobile and fixed-line communications providers. Foreign ownership in mobile operators is set at a maximum of 65 percent and in fixed-line operators at 49 percent. The regulations are not retroactive but foreign investors will not be allowed to raise existing stakes in operators if those stakes are already over the new limits. Earlier regulations were ambiguous and at least two mobile operators have foreign ownership that exceeds 65 percent: Excelcomindo Pratama (XL), which is 66.98 owned by Telekom Malaysia, and Telepon Seluler (NTS), which is 95 percent owned by Malaysian firm Maxis Communications. Foreign ownership caps were also set for other industries.

   

Saudi Telecom, Maxis deal may spur more investments

  • June 29th, 2007
  • 11:26 am

The $3.05 billion investment by Saudi Telecom in Maxis Communications may help spur more Middle Eastern investments in Malaysia.

SJ Securities research head Cheah King Yoong said the deal, which is one of the most significant Middle Eastern investments in the region, signified an increased confidence from Middle East investors in Malaysia.

“I believe more Middle East investments will be pumped into the country for a few reasons. We have a strong Islamic investment banking system, making it easy for them to put their money into our syariah-compliant structures.

“Let’s not forget that the central bank has issued three Islamic banking licenses to foreign players, so this is just only the starting point,” he said.

He said that Malaysia’s corporate earnings growth is also one of the most robust in the region, making the companies attractive investment targets.

OSK Investment’s research head Kenny Yee noted that Middle Eastern investors are “overflowing with money” due to the oil effect, and as such are looking at other viable destinations for investments.

These investors, however, have been scouting for opportunities not just in Malaysia, but also the region, said TA Securities’ research head Kaladher Govindan.

He pointed out that Saudi Telecom’s purchase of a 25% stake in Maxis was to leverage on opportunities not just in Malaysia, but more for other growth markets like India and Indonesia that Maxis already had a presence in.